Love is Not Exclusive
by No-Face
Summary: A very short fic about a very troublesome subject.
1. Default Chapter

Finishing dinner took longer than everyone expected, since it turned out to be quite the feast. Sasami out did herself this time, and everyone was asking for seconds, then thirds, then fourths. Mihoshi and Kiyone had come on invitation. They were both so full and it was late, and they were too tired to return to their apartment. Tenchi said it was alright for them to spend the night, and the matter was settled.  
  
In the guest room Kiyone and Mihoshi dressed into their pajamas and readied for bed. Mihoshi said, "Gosh Kiyone, wasn't that simply the best food you've ever eaten?"  
  
"Sure was..." Kiyone said while retrieving her digital notepad. She leaned up against the wall and started scanning the text as it scrolled by.  
  
Mihoshi saw her while slipping into her futon and whimpered, "C'mon Kiyone, can't you stop working just for once?"  
  
"Sure, just after I finish reading these reports."  
  
Mihoshi sighed and quietly watched Kiyone. The light from the pad illuminated her face, revealing a tired and empty expression. Mihoshi didn't like seeing Kiyone work so hard, because she never looked happy when she did. She only wanted to see Kiyone smile, like they do when singing Karaoke.  
  
After a few more minutes pass, Mihoshi crawled out of her bed and sat next to Kiyone. "C'mon Kiyone, put it away..."  
  
"Mihoshi, you make my life hard enough when your on duty, can you at least give me some peace when your not?"  
  
Mihoshi edged towards Kiyone and rested her head onto her shoulder. "I just hate seeing you so grumpy all the time."  
  
"Mihoshi, what are you doing? Get off of me," said Kiyone, however she didn't move away.  
  
Mihoshi then wrapped her arm around Kiyone's stomach. "Why don't you try relaxing more often?"  
  
Kiyone sighed in annoyance. "Stop acting stupid. Jeez, Mihoshi, I'm not your mom for crying out loud..."  
  
Mihoshi quietly said, "But Kiyone..." She then lifted her head and kissed her cheek.  
  
Kiyone pushed her away and jumped to her feet. "What the hell was that?"  
  
"Uh... I kissed you..."  
  
"I know! What the hell is wrong with you? I'm a woman for god's sakes! Are you so retarded that you can't even see that?"  
  
Mihoshi whimpered, "But... Kiyone... I uh..."  
  
"You what?"  
  
"I know you're a woman, Kiyone... I uh... you know..."  
  
Kiyone dropped her pad in shock. "You're gay!? I can't believe this! All these years you've been checking me out? God you're such a filthy pervert!!" Kiyone then stormed from the room.  
  
Mihoshi started to cry.  
  
Tenchi was risen from his bed by the shouting, and when he made it to the living room, he found the lights were on and Kiyone was pacing furiously around the room. "Uh, what's going on Kiyone?"  
  
"I'll tell you what's going on. Mihoshi is a total dyke! She even kissed me! I demand that you throw her out immediately!"  
  
The sound of crying could be heard coming from upstairs. Kiyone yelled, "Go on and cry you sicko! I don't feel sorry for you!!"  
  
Tenchi shook his head and said, "Kiyone, you think perhaps you could have been a little more considerate when turning her down?"  
  
Kiyone looked at Tenchi in disgust. "Be more considerate? For HER? Love is EXCLUSIVELY for a man and woman! It's human law for crying out loud! She doesn't deserve any kind of special treatment. Hell, if it were up to me I would make it illegal so I could arrest her!"  
  
Ryoko leaned over the beam above the living room and groaned, "What's going on? Shut up when people are trying to sleep!"  
  
Aeka appeared at the top of the stairs and said, "I too would like to know what all this ruckus is about."  
  
In a few moments the entire household was seated in the living room all wondering what the commotion was about. Kiyone exclaimed, "I just found out that Mihoshi is a... a... lesbian!!"  
  
There was a silence in the room, which was eventually broken by Ryoko muttering, "I'm going to bed...."  
  
Before she could get far Tenchi held onto her arm and said, "I think you should stay. This is a pretty big problem and I want everyone here so we can fix it."  
  
Ryoko sighed, "You want this fixed? Fine, I'll fix it. Kiyone, you're a narrow minded twit, now go to bed."  
  
Kiyone shouted, "I'm not narrow minded! This isn't like some moral shade of gray here, this is someone being gay! And they actually kissed me! God I feel so violated."  
  
Washu said, "They? Her name is Mihoshi... isn't it?"  
  
Sasami piped up, "But where is Mihoshi?"  
  
Kiyone scowled, "She's in our room crying like a baby. Serves the pervert right."  
  
Sasami went to her feet and said, "She's crying all by herself? That's not very nice! I don't know what 'gay' means, but it's still not nice to make someone cry!!" She then ran upstairs and into the room where Mihoshi was.  
  
Tenchi said, "Sasami does have a point, Kiyone. You don't have to agree with it, but you could have at least let Mihoshi down without all this name-calling."  
  
Nobuyuki, who was very silent and groggy since the incident began, decided to add some input. "The boy's right, Kiyone. Why I know if he were to let Ryoko or Aeka down by calling them names, both of them would be crushed into tears... and probably torch him right after. That would be an extremely foolish way to handle their feelings for him, especially since they love him."  
  
Both Ryoko and Aeka's attention perked up as they suddenly became interested in the conversation. They glanced at each other silently and thought how Mihoshi must be feeling right now.  
  
Kiyone said, "But that's different. Ryoko and Aeka are women, and Tenchi's a man. It's impossible for her to love me, because I'm a woman too. She's only going after me because she's perverted like that."  
  
Aeka quietly said, "Kiyone... love is never exclusive to any classification. For a very long time I was deeply in love with my brother. We were to be married, but circumstances didn't allow it. Also, to speak directly about this subject, my mother and aunt also share a bond that is plural to my father. Many criticize him for marrying two women, but what many do not realize is that my mother and Funaho are also married to each other. They love one another just as much as they love him. That is why on Jurai there are no prejudices against any sort of bonding, so long as the bond is a healthy and balanced one."  
  
Kiyone shook her head. "That's STILL different from what's going on now. You're father is still there between them, so it's not completely gay. They can still have children."  
  
Ryoko huffed, "What the hell does reproduction have to do with love?"  
  
Washu giggled, "Although it was crudely said, Ryoko has a good point. The last galactic census reported that there are five hundred fifty two sexdecillion nine hundred four quindecillion twenty two quattuordecllion seven hundred sixty eight tredecillion thirty four duodecillion two hundred forty five undevillion one hundred nine decillion five hundred thirty two nonillion three hundred ninety octillion six hundred twenty three septillion four hundred seventy eight sexillion seven quintillion forty four quadrillion five hundred eleven trillion two hundred fifty one billion four hundred ninety nine million nine hundred eighty seven thousand," she then took a much need breath of air, "... and six hundred fifty two people in the galaxy."  
  
Tenchi smiled nervously. "What kind of number is that?"  
  
Washu rolled her eyes. "I said five hundred fifty two sexdecillion..."  
  
"No no!! It terms we can understand."  
  
Washu blinked and said, "Oh. That's about five hundred fifty two with fifty-one zeros after it. It's a pretty big number. The point I was trying to make was that the human race isn't in danger of going extinct any time soon. We can relax a bit and explore untraditional love that isn't as strict as childbirth. If you know what I mean."  
  
Kiyone shook her head. "Yeah, I know THAT, but what about me? What if I want to have kids later on? And what if SHE wants to have kids later on? She shouldn't sabotage that over a sick fetish."  
  
Washu said, "You know, with a little work I could probably make a system that will pull off child birth between two women. Heck, I could probably make one for men too!"  
  
The level of disgust on Kiyone's face only increased. "What? That's such a horrible disgrace to the human body! And it's not natural! None of this is natural! It just isn't right..."  
  
"Oh please..." Ryoko groaned. "That's such a tired excuse that I'm so sick of hearing it. Whether or not something is natural has nothing to do with whether or not it's good. Spaceships don't exactly pop out of the ground on their own, but are they horribly terrible things despite being so unnatural? What about modern medicine? These doctors are using technology to break down molecules and cells to cure diseases and save people's lives! That sure as hell isn't natural, but it's definitely something we can all agree to being good."  
  
"But... it isn't normal!" Kiyone pleaded.  
  
Aeka said, "You're right... it isn't normal, but does that make it awful as well? A warm day in the middle of winter is not normal, but it certainly would be most welcome."  
  
Kiyone threw her arms into the air and said, "I give up! You guy's just don't understand!" She then plopped onto the couch behind her.  
  
Tenchi said, "I think we do understand, Kiyone, at least I do. You seem very captivated by the miracle of life, and anything that goes against that is very wrong to you. Trust me when I say that I understand where you're coming from, because I too think that the love between a man and a woman is a very sacred thing. It's wonderful that you have very strong emotions and beliefs about things, Kiyone, but sometimes you have to let other people live in their own way."  
  
Kiyone was on her feet again, and when she did everyone in the room stared in shock as tears started pouring from her eyes. "I can't let her do that! She's my friend, and I don't want to see her sabotage her future like that! I want to be able to tell her about my kids, and hear about hers. I want our kids to play together. Even though she's a total klutz and she makes my life so hard, I want to see her meet a nice guy live a good life. She deserves that just as much as anyone else. She doesn't realize what she's costing herself by being gay! She's causing herself so much pain by refusing to start a family!"  
  
Kiyone fell to her knees and started sobbing. Everyone stood in silence for a moment while unsure of what to do. Footsteps were heard tumbling down the stairs and Mihoshi ran to Kiyone's side and hugged her tightly. Kiyone wept into Mihoshi and hugged her back. Kiyone sobbed, "Why, Mihoshi? Why?... I just want you to be happy..."  
  
"Kiyone... please don't cry! Please don't! I... I'm not gay! You don't have to cry!"  
  
Through her tears Kiyone said, "You're just saying that. I was always a little suspicious, but when you kissed me I was horrified that it was actually true."  
  
"Kiyone, I'm really not! I've never kissed a girl before in my entire life."  
  
"Then why did you?"  
  
Mihoshi blushed and said, "Because I like you. I don't really consider myself gay, because I never look at girls like that... but I like you so much that I want to be with you anyways."  
  
Tenchi felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked to see his father nodding towards the stairs. He glanced around the room to everyone and made the same gesture, and the room emptied to give Kiyone and Mihoshi privacy.  
  
A long silence passed and Kiyone eventually stopped crying. Mihoshi said, "Kiyone... I want you to be happy, too. When I see you working all the time you always look so sad. Sometimes it even makes me cry to see you work so hard... because you always look so, so sad when you do."  
  
Kiyone lifted her head to see Mihoshi's. She said, "I want you to be happy, too! If you stay with me you'll never be able to start a family, and I can't imagine how anyone can be happy with a life like that."  
  
Mihoshi nodded and said, "You're right, Kiyone. I think eventually I would really want to have kids. But I think that can happen even if I'm with you... I overheard Washu talk about it..."  
  
Kiyone suddenly pulled away from Mihoshi and stood in silence. The expression on Kiyone's face was conflicted, as if a war of emotion was being wage within her. She said, "I... have to think about all of this..."  
  
Mihoshi nodded and said, "Okay..."  
  
Kiyone opened up the patio door and stepped outside. The chill from the night air reminded her that she was still in her pajamas, but it wasn't so cold as to force her back inside. She sighed deeply and looked into the sky while leaning against the house.  
  
After a few moments and voice asked, "Rough night?"  
  
She turned to see Katsuhito standing at the edge of the patio. Kiyone nervously asked, "How long have you been there?"  
  
With a wry smile he said, "The entire time."  
  
Kiyone sighed. He then said, "Kiyone, did Tenchi ever tell you about the little vocabulary issue Ryoko had a few weeks ago?"  
  
She said, "Just a little, but I don't know much. I heard it was really embarrassing."  
  
Katsuhito nodded. "Yes... he talked to me about it later on, and the lesson that we all took from it was that we cannot assume to know someone or their motives if we think they fit into a certain label. No one in the galaxy could possibly fit any one of the labels we've invented, because no one is ever so two-dimensional. The same thing goes with the issue you're having with Mihoshi. You cannot simply say that she is gay and be done with it. Her feelings for you are so strong that she is going against her natural instincts to be with you. She is a very special case, just like everyone else in the galaxy. Everyone who is attracted to the same sex is doing so for his or her personal reasons. There are an infinite number of reasons one might have, and none of them can be summed up with a single solitary word."  
  
Kiyone quietly nodded. She then said, "I guess I see where you're coming from."  
  
"Kiyone, if you were to be with Mihoshi, would you consider yourself gay?"  
  
"Of course not."  
  
Katsuhito smiled. "And why is that?"  
  
Kiyone thought for a moment and then said, "Well... if... and I mean IF... I stay with Mihoshi, it'll be because I want her to be happy, and I want her to make me happy as well. It wouldn't be because of perverted reasons. It would just be because... we love each other. That's why I wouldn't really consider us as being gay."  
  
Katsuhito said, "Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps other gay people consider themselves the same way? Many people have a lot of different definitions for the same word, thus making the word useless. The word 'gay' is one such example. You think that it is a negative word, while others find it to be a positive word, like one that would describe the relationship between you and Mihoshi. In the end we must learn to do away with words like that, and communicate with one another on a deeper level."  
  
Kiyone looked to the ground. A moment later she said, "I guess.... maybe. I just need to think about all of this."  
  
Katsuhito said, "Then I shall leave you to your thoughts. Good night, Kiyone."  
  
"Good night."  
  
Kiyone then sighed deeply and looked to the stars. 


	2. OMG People

I've gotten a number of emails that say they thought my fic was against gay people or it was stereotyping gay people. If this doesn't apply to you, then turn right around cause there's no need to read this. But for those of you who do find my fic anti-gay, please continue right along. The story was the exact opposite. Kiyone represented the millions of homophobic people I've encountered in my time, and the rest of the house hold spoke my responses to all of the arguments I've heard. If you didn't notice, Kiyone couldn't offer a rational explination why being gay was wrong, because in truth there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Although for the sake of the story, I did try to explain WHY she was offended by Mihoshi's attraction to her, just so that the characters would have some kind of depth in this otherwise two dimensional blurb of text.  
  
I've found that homophobic people need to be lent our understanding before they'll be able to understand the rest of us. They're human too, and just because they have a strong opinion that pisses a lot of us off, that doesn't mean they don't have feelings. Kiyone (in my story) thinks that a happy life involves a husband and children, and anything less would be a crime. Because Mihoshi was her friend, she's projected that dream onto her. She thought, "if it makes me happy, then it probably makes her happy too". So hearing that she was gay was like saying "I don't want to be happy". The problem with that is that people never EVER hear their subconscious correctly. It always gets garbled on the way out. Kiyone was worried about her friend's happiness, but the only way she knew how to communicate that was to exclaim that being gay was wrong. It wasn't until she was cornered in the argument did she realize that her claim lacked all logic. That's when all distractions were torn away except what was truly bothering her, and it all came pouring out with the water works.  
  
I didn't think this was horribly obscure in my story. Hell, here's a quote from the very end:  
  
"...the lesson that we all took from it was that we cannot assume to know someone or their motives if we think they fit into a certain label. No one in the galaxy could possibly fit any one of the labels we've invented, because no one is ever so two-dimensional."  
  
If that means something different from what I think it means... then I'll eat my hat.  
  
And then...  
  
"She is a very special case, just like everyone else in the galaxy. Everyone who is attracted to the same sex is doing so for his or her personal reasons. There are an infinite number of reasons one might have, and none of them can be summed up with a single solitary word."  
  
Didn't you guys read the fic? I feel silly for posting it twice.  
  
At the very end Kiyone STILL thought that being "gay" was something perverted. That's because she's homophobic!! Even if she does turn out to be gay, she doesn't want to be associated with that label.  
  
And finally...  
  
"Many people have a lot of different definitions for the same word, thus making the word useless. The word 'gay' is one such example. You think that it is a negative word, while others find it to be a positive word, like one that would describe the relationship between you and Mihoshi. In the end we must learn to do away with words like that, and communicate with one another on a deeper level."  
  
Once again read:  
  
"You think that it is a negative word, while others find it to be a positive word, like one that would describe the relationship between you and Mihoshi."  
  
This has been my experience all through life. Every single person I've ever met has had a different idea of what being "gay" meant. Some people's definitions were as innocent as the word "love", while other people's definitions were vulgar and degrading. It's a word folks. A WORD! Get rid of it! Stop labeling one another! Get to know each other using more than one word!!  
  
I was trying to make the most pro gay fanfic imaginable, and I get emails saying its anti-gay!!!!! SHEESH!!!!! 


End file.
